World Top 5 City Destinations

This post is just my personal opinion based on the place that I have visited so far. Some of the places maybe better than the places that I mentioned below but just because I haven't visit the place, doesn't mean the place is not nice. Each places below are rated based on 5 major criteria namely place of attraction, food, shopping options, cultural uniqueness and ease of travelling by public transport.

No 5: Munich (Score:38)

Awesome attractions which includes castle and concentration camp. Much history to learn from the city especially during the Nazi era. Being the largest city in Bavaria, the city is also the richest in Germany. Munich is well known for its annual Oktoberfest. The city has among the tastiest beer in the world. Munich always ranked high on the most liveable city list. The food with famous pork knuckles with beautiful historical architecture and people are polite as well.

Place of attraction:8/10
Food:8/10
Shopping:6/10
Cultural:8/10
Transportation:8/10


Marienplatz during sunset.

Crispy pork knuckles with beer and Sauerkraut. Eating at English garten in hot sun.

BMW city.

Neuschwanstein Castle is just 2 hours trip away via train.

Water rafting in the middle of Munich. Heavy flow of water inside English Garten.

No 4: San Francisco (Score:41)

San Francisco is a city which have fantastic view as the surrounding area hilly. Its walkable from one attraction to the others as the city small size. Famous for the Golden Gate Bridge, the weather in San Francisco is always foggy and it have a nickname of city by the bay. As the location near the sea and hilly, there is always constant breeze around the city makes travelling very comfortable in San Francisco. Food wise is delicious and good quality. Its also a city which is very liberal with many gay and lesbian restaurants.

Place of attraction:8/10
Food:9/10
Shopping:7/10
Cultural:9/10
Transportation:8/10


Pier 39 of San Francisco.

Delicious lamb shank at Olea San Francisco.

Balmy Street Murals. Virtual outdoor art gallery featuring colourful murals featuring expression of outrage over human rights and political abuse in central America.

Should not miss the icon of San Francisco. The Golden Gate Bridge.

No 3: Kyoto (Score:42)

Kyoto was Japan capital for more than 10 decades. The city have many historical attractions which is currently listed in UNESCO World Heritage sites. You will be amazed that more than 10 sites listed as World Heritage sites. Besides many old and historical buildings, it have a full functional Gion district which you still can watch working geisha walking around. During spring and autumn, this city boast the best cherry blossom and autumn foliage respectively in the World. You will be amazed at how beautiful it is during spring and autumn in Kyoto. The city is not as busy as Tokyo and very suitable for those who like to travel on slower pace to enjoy the scenery and learn about Japan traditional culture.

Place of attraction:10/10
Food:8/10
Shopping:6/10
Cultural:10/10
Transportation:8/10


Famous Fushimi Inari temple.

Beautiful autumn foliage at Maruyama park Kyoto.

Autumn foliage red colours at Nanzenji temple.

Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji). Its one of the UNESCO World Heritage site in Kyoto.

No 2: Paris (Score:45)

Paris itself is full of attraction. From the famous Eiffel tower to world class art museums. The city also have unique cafes which you can have a seat to enjoy the view while having tea or snacks. People here seems to relax and enjoying their life with spurge of luxury shops and high end dining places. Famous landmarks such as Louvre Museum and Notre Dame are in Paris. Do enjoy this city of romance.

Place of attraction:10/10
Food:9/10
Shopping:9/10
Cultural:10/10
Transportation:8/10


Inside Notre-Dame.

Paris at night.

Love lock bridge.

Luxury shopping and ladies heaven of Louis Vuitton.

Impressive architecture inside Palace of Versailles.

No 1: Tokyo (Score:45)

Tokyo is the largest megalopolis in the world with modern living but in old fashioned manners. Super huge city but still clean and people are polite. Amazing food selection and best quality with suits every budget levels. I have been visiting Tokyo on multiple occasion but still haven't tasted anything bad yet. Book shops are everywhere and filled with manga and special interest magazines. The transportation system is unmatchable by other cities in term of punctuality and comprehensive coverage. Traditional looking shrines and stone lanterns also scattered around the cities with amazing selection of shopping malls, ramen shops, huge high tech electrical stores and brightly lited pharmacies. Weird fashion and the hippest can be found in Tokyo especially in Harajuku and Shibuya area where youngsters gather. In 2015, Monocle magazine has ranked Tokyo as the most liveable city in the world.

Place of attraction:8/10
Food:10/10
Shopping:9/10
Cultural:8/10
Transportation:10/10


Abundance of fresh and unique seafood. Here you can have fresh sea urchin and huge fresh oysters.

Fresh wasabi.

Ginza famous shopping district.

Cool leather jacket easily available.

Traditional wedding in Meiji shrine.

JR East Pass - Travelling Kanto area and Nagano, Japan

JR East Pass provide a great discount on regular rail travel and it covers the fastest Shinkansen train on JR East network. Basically, you can travel until Nagano on central Japan and up to Shin-Aomori on northern Japan. The pass enable you to utilize five different type of Shinkansen train namely: Akita, Hokuriku, Yamagata, Joetsu and Tohoku Shinkansen. Another great feature of this pass is the validity of 14 days and can be used on any 5 days. This pass is considered as flexible as other passes need to be used on the consecutive days when activated. Another great value of this pass as it covers unlimited travel on Narita Express, Tokyo monorail and Yamanote line which provide convenient access to Tokyo via both Narita and Haneda airport. The JR East Pass priced at 22,000 Yen which is cheaper than you purchasing individual Shinkansen tickets to Nagano.

You don’t have to buy JR East Pass before arriving in Japan. It can be purchased at the airport on arrival at Narita and Haneda airport, or from any major JR East Stations. In Tokyo, you can purchase the pass at Tokyo, Shinjuku, Shinagawa, Shibuya, Ikebukuro and Ueno station. If you would like to purchase from your travel agent in your home country, you can do that as well. If you buy the JR East pass in Tokyo you will need to show your passport as well as your return air tickets as evidence that you are in Japan for short stay. I do recommend that you take the JR East Pass if you travel more than 3 hours combined on Shinkansen. Travelling at least 3 hours on Shinkansen can easily cost 16,000 Yen. And if you add on your stay in Tokyo and travel using Narita Express, the cost can easily be covered.


JR East Pass.


Travelling from Narita airport to Tokyo is covered by JR East Pass.

Status board on Narita Express (NEX).

Hokuriku Shinkansen to Nagano. 1 hour 45 minutes on the fastest Kagayaki train.

Very long bullet train.

Train schedule.

Selfie with Japan bullet train.

Japanese style notepad. JR East provide gift for those who travel long distance on Shinkansen train. You can collect souvenir or gift from each major stations that you reached using JR trains. More details here.

Exploring Minato Mirai 21 @ Yokohama, Japan

Minato Mirai 21 is a new seaside urban area which features modern looking buildings located at Central of Yokohama. There are many highrise building around and Landmark Tower was the tallest building in Japan until 2014 before surpassed by Tokyo Skytree. Yokohama was a shipyard until 1980 before it transformed into new city centre. There are many human made attractions around Minato Mirai such as Cosmo World amusement park, cup noodles museum, World Porters shopping centre and Queen's Square shopping centre. Overall Minato Mirai area is pleasant to walk around. The waterfront is lovely, lots of shopping and good place for family outing.

I think that Minato Mirai area is quite boring with not much unique attractions. Many of the attractions are newly build which does not have cultural, architecture or history element which makes it interesting. The plus point here is the place is very clean, convenient and proper planning with good restaurant options, shopping and a few tourist attractions which all within short walking distance from Minato Mirai station.


Japan tallest building until 2014. The Landmark Tower. Beside Landmark Tower on the right were Queen's shopping centre. Minato Mirai station is at the basement of the shopping centre.

From Yokohama to Minato Mirai station. Minato Mirai train line just opened in 2014.

Cosmo World amusement park/theme park.

House of Dr.Edgar at Cosmo World.

Good place for family with kids.


Cosmo World in cloudy weather. The Cosmo World theme park has two roller coaster rides, game attractions and the obvious large Ferris wheel which also function as a clock. In the evening, Cosmo World were illuminated which beautify the night view of Yokohama.

Roller Coaster Vanish. Scary name. Hope not going to vanish after the ride.

Cosmo World theme park is free to enter. If you would like to play their attraction or ride their roller coasters, you may purchase individual ticket.

The roller coaster will fall thru the water pool.

Walking nearer to the Ferris wheel.


That's fun.

Cup Noodles museum is a famous attraction in Minato Mirai.

Quite crowded during my visit on saturday.

Souvenir pack of cup noodles.

Unique flavour of Donbee Soba from Cup Noodles Museum shop.

Crowded shop.

Chikin ramen. I think this is Malaysian version of Mamee Monster.

Special edition of cup noodles.

At level 4, there is food court selling noodles from different countries. If you notice, there is curry laksa featured as Malaysian style noodles.

Cute chicky which is the object of photo moment.

Me in Cup Noodle museum.

Small park outside the cup noodles museum.

On the way back to Minato Mirai train station. Pass by saw this nice snow house.

Before I go. Take a selfie with snow house, Ferris wheel and lover bench in Cosmo World.

Inside Minato Mirai line train. Next stop is Motomachi-Chukagai Station which is Yokohama Chinatown.

Public transport: The nearest station is Minato Mirai Station via Minato Mirai Line which is located at the basement of Queen's Square and is two stations from Yokohama Station (3 minutes, 180 yen). Second option would be via JR Negishi Line (Keihin-Tohoku Line). Stop at Sakuragicho station which is just one stop from Yokohama station (3 minutes, 140 Yen).